


Hearts on Ice

by thathipsterkaiya



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso | Your Lie in April Fusion, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Musicians, Pianist Dan Howell, violinist Phil Lester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-23 00:49:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11391921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thathipsterkaiya/pseuds/thathipsterkaiya
Summary: Dan has a small crush on Phil. Big deal, right?





	Hearts on Ice

He had always passed by him in the hallways every day. Dan never really noticed the man with the sweater vests and the scent of coffee trailing behind.

That was until one day, fucking Chris decided to pull a nasty prank on him and stick some gum in his hair. Dan didn’t notice until the man with sweater vest pointed it out and offered to pull it out.

This, of course, resulted in massive head pain for Dan and a bit of frustration on the other man’s part. However, Dan couldn’t stop his heart from beating rapidly when his savior flashed a grin at him after finally taking out the gum from his hair. The man introduced himself as Phil, and Dan was enamored.

From then on, Dan’s cheeks flushed a tint of red whenever Phil walked past him. Unfortunately, a bond over pulling gum out of one’s hair wasn’t strong enough to really consider people “friends,” but Dan secretly hoped that one day Phil would extend an olive branch of friendship.

 _One day_ , Dan thought to himself.

 

_Six months later_

His goddamn crush on Phil Lester still hasn’t gone away. Within the span of a few months, Dan had gathered a few (more like fifty) random facts about Phil, which was borderline creepy, to say the least.

Some of these facts included:

Phil’s locker number is 239.

Phil mostly wears his plain cream colored sweater vest with the white sleeves underneath.

Phil has a dog named Marley.

Phil’s dog Marley is a brown labradoodle.

Phil’s best friend’s name is PJ, who is friends with Chris.

Phil wears contacts and only wears glasses at home.

Phil is allergic to cats.

Phil’s favorite food is cereal (particularly Shreddies).

Phil loves Muse just like Dan does.

Phil plays the violin.

Phil’s locker number is 239.

Phil mostly wears his plain cream colored sweater vest with the white sleeves underneath.

Phil has a dog named Marley.

Phil’s dog Marley is a brown labradoodle.

Phil’s best friend’s name is PJ, who is friends with Chris.

Phil wears contacts and only wears glasses at home.

Phil is allergic to cats.

Phil’s favorite food is cereal (particularly Shreddies).

Phil loves Muse just like Dan does.

Phil plays the violin.

 

~

 

Dan didn’t know what possessed him to play the piano in his school’s music room after school hours, but he recently finished watching  _Your Lie in April_  and he was in a mood.

After digging through some online sources, Dan had managed to snag a PDF file of the piano accompaniment part of Saint-Saën’s  _Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso._

As he was going through the final section of the piece with the sixteenth note passage, he heard the door to the music room open.

The sound of the notes flowing from the piano came to an abrupt stop as he looked up to see Phil fucking Lester with his violin case in hand. He appeared to be out of breath; God knows why the man was running in the first place.

“I heard you,” Phil paused to catch his breath, “I heard you play Saint- Saën?”

Dan nodded, staying silent as he watched Phil clunk his violin case onto a chair and start to unzip it open.

“I’m actually working on this piece for my class project due on Friday and my piano accompanist got sick with the flu,” Phil continued, taking out his violin and bow. “How well do you know the piano part to it?”

“Er,” Dan bit his lip thoughtfully, “I’ve been working on it for a week or so, but I got most of it already.”  
  


“Do you think you could have it all down by this weekend?” Phil asked hopefully.

Dan’s eyes widened.  _This Friday?_

“We could rehearse for just a few minutes after school,” Phil added. “Just run through it a couple of times. Because I do take some liberties with tempo on this.”

 _This could be a way to spend more time with Phil,_  Dan reasoned in his head. Anyways, all he needed to work on was that damned sixteenth note passage at the end.

“Yeah okay, I’ll do it.”

Phil smiled. “Really?”

“Mhm,” Dan nodded. “Do you wanna go over it now?”

“Yeah!” Phil bounced excitedly as he slid a bright yellow shoulder rest onto his violin, placing the violin on his chin and setting the bow on the string.

“Tempo?” Dan asked.

“Right right,” Phil mumbled. “Something like this…”

Phil played the first few measures of the piece, and then the first few measures of the rondo.

“Okay thanks,” Dan said, flipping to the first page of his music. His fingers floated gently towards the keys, hovering slightly above them ready to play. He looked up and watched for Phil’s cue.

Phil nodded slightly to Dan and they were off.

The tempo changes were very messy, to say the least. Separately, they were amazing. As an ensemble? Not so much. They ran through it two more times, as the piece in its entirety was nearly ten minutes long.

To Dan’s chagrin, he kept messing up the tempo changes, finding that he couldn’t really connect with Phil’s flawless, free-spirited playing.

After their fifth time running it through with minuscule success, Dan sighed and plopped his head on the piano, causing the beautiful instrument to spew out a blockade of uncoordinated notes.

“I’m never gonna get this,” Dan said morosely, his voice slightly muffled by the piano.

“It’s alright,” Phil replied almost joyfully. He placed the violin on his shoulder once more. “Again?”

Dan just stared up at Phil, refusing to believe that this amazingly talented violinist, who also happened to be his crush, would not give up on him. Dan felt his heart flutter slightly, but he immediately dismissed it.

“Alright,” Dan finally replied, setting his fingers on the keys again.

 

~

 

Four days passed and the piece was surprisingly coming together. The duo found that they even had a few minutes of messing around to spare before the ratty music teacher Ms. Culdwin kicked them out at 4:00 PM.

On Thursday after school, after going through the piece two times together, Dan was messing around with the piano while Phil was packing up his violin. He faintly heard Phil humming the Yuri!!! on Ice theme, and Dan’s heart started racing.

 _He watches Yuri!!! on Ice, oh god help me,_  Dan thought to himself.

He looked down at the keys in front of him. An idea popped into his head.

Dan started playing “Yuri On Ice” from  _Yuri!!! on Ice’s_  OST, and he could practically feel Phil freeze as he set down his violin and slowly turned around to face him. Dan felt the heat of embarrassment flood into his face and ears, his confidence thinning out.  

Dan hit the high note with his left hand, then went back over his right hand to play the last two low notes before stopping abruptly.

“Et cetera,” Dan mumbled, staring straight down at the piano keys.

“That was so cool!” Phil exclaimed, walking over to Dan and sliding onto the piano bench next to him. “Can you do more of it?”

“Er yeah, sure.”

Dan inhaled deeply, trying to calm the panicky storm that had stirred up in his head. He set his hands on the piano keys and started again, finding solace in the comforting melody of the soundtrack’s song.

As the song went on, Dan’s fingers started to dance across the white keys of the piano. It was almost as if he were Yuri, gliding across the white ice with a story to tell through dance. Just like Yuri would make art through his dance, Dan would make art through the music of the piano.

In the middle of the song, Dan felt Phil stand up from the piano bench. A minute later, he heard the sound of the violin creeping its way into the melody with its long drawn out notes, laced with vibrato and beautiful tone. It was the perfect bow to tie all of the piano notes of the melody together. The main theme sang out through the violin, and for one beautiful moment, Dan felt completely connected to Phil through the art of music.

Dan looked up from the piano keys and saw Phil facing him this time. He had his eyes closed, bow floating across the string like a pair of skates gliding across the ice. Oh boy, was Dan in love. He closed his eyes once more and let himself drown in the music again.

Too soon enough, the song ended, and Dan opened his eyes, feeling his mind jerkily surface back into the real world. He turned to look at Phil, who stood there looking straight back at him. He had his violin tucked neatly under his arm now, beaming at Dan.

“That was-” Phil started.

“Amazing,” Dan finished.

“Yeah,” Phil breathed out, grinning from ear to ear. “You play piano so well. That was, like, crazy good what you did with your hands there.”

“Hah, thanks,” Dan replied, smiling slightly. “I wouldn’t stop playing that song for months. I went through a phase with Yuri.”

“Me too,” Phil chuckled, tucking his violin and bow in his case, zipping the case closed. “We should do that again sometime. Maybe film it or something.”

“Yeah definitely.”

Phil shouldered his violin case, gripping the straps. He smiled. “Tomorrow’s gonna be great!”

“It is,” Dan agreed, sliding the lid on top of the piano keys and pushing the bench in.

The two walked together down the halls and out towards the parking lot.

“Do you need a ride home?” Phil asked.

“Nah I’m good,” Dan waved dismissively. “I’ll just walk. It’s like a few minutes down that way.”

“Aw come on, it’s no problem at all!” Phil persisted. “Besides, I’m heading that same direction anyway. Your house is on the way.”

“Alright,” Dan relented, following Phil to his car.

Dan got in the passenger seat as Phil adjusted the rearview mirror and started pulling out of the parking lot. Phil turned on the radio, The Neighborhood’s music filling the car.

“Damn I love The Neighborhood,” Dan grinned.

“Same here!” Phil replied. “Their music is so catchy and great.”

“Favorite song?” Dan asked.

 _“I Can’t Even,”_  Phil said. “I would make some clever word play on that but my mind is too tired.”

Dan laughed. “Mine’s  _Afraid._ ”

“Ah that one’s good,” Phil nodded. “So where am I going?”

“Just down that road and to your left. I’m the third one down.”

“Gotcha.”

“So you live around here?” Dan turned to Phil.

“Nah, my best friend Peej does though.”

“Oh cool,” Dan felt a bit of jealousy creeping in. “What’s he like?”

“He’s like the best person in the world.”

“Is he?” Dan felt his heart sink just a little bit.

“Yeah,” Phil smiled. “I’m like in love with him to be honest.” His smile faded away, his face turning serious. “He draws so well and makes amazing art. He’s super creative and funny. God, I think he’s like my soulmate or something.”

“That’s nice,” Dan said, internally frowning. He really tried not to let his disappointment show.  

“So here?” Phil asked, slowing down the car to a stop in front of Dan’s house.

“Yeah, thanks.”

“No problem!” Phil chirped as Dan got out of the car and shouldered his bag.

“Hey, thanks for helping me out with this,” Phil said before Dan closed the passenger seat door. “You really saved me from Ms. Culdwin’s wrath.”

Dan forced out a smile. “Of course, it’s been really fun.”

Phil flashed Dan another smile before driving off.

That night, Dan drowned in a flood of disappointment and slight heartbreak before closing his eyes and letting the void of sleep take over.

 

~

 

It was the day that Dan and Phil would perform for Phil’s music class. Since Phil’s music class was the same period as Dan’s study hall, Dan didn’t have to worry about getting excused from class from a teacher.

During lunch, Dan was warming up on the piano with scales. Phil’s music class was the period right after lunch and Dan wasn’t very hungry, so he decided to skip out on food and just practice.

He heard the door open. He looked up to see the same bright-faced man who’s been causing all of that trouble in his heart and mind.

Today Phil was wearing a suit and tie, his usually untidy black hair combed and gelled neatly, bright blue violin case strapped on his back and a half-eaten apple in his hand.

Phil smiled at him. “Warming up?”

“Yeah,” Dan breathed out, profusely avoiding eye contact with Phil. “That sixteenth note passage at the end for me is a right bitch.”

Phil smiled understandingly. “Oh definitely. We can practice it together!”

Dan nodded, looking straight at his music.

Phil’s smile faded away. “You alright?”

Dan took a minute to compose himself. “Yeah ‘m alright,” he breathed out.

“Okay,” Phil said, clearly unconvinced, but deciding to leave it alone for now. He set his case on a chair nearby and unpacked his violin.

“So how are you?” Phil asked, trying to light up the mood as he tuned his violin.

“Good,” Dan replied, guarding his eyes against Phil’s face.

“That’s good,” Phil said awkwardly.

A few painful minutes ticked by as Dan fiddled with the keys on the piano and Phil plucked at his strings. Out of the corner of his eye, Dan saw Phil open his mouth, about to say something, when the bell rung.

 

~

 

The performance was amazing. Phil’s playing was flawless and Dan could only hang on for the ride when following his lead. It almost hurt Dan’s heart once the piece was over, especially when Phil turned around and gave him a huge childish grin.

 _Oh god, I’m in love with him,_  Dan thought to himself hazily.  _I’m so in love with you._

“What?” A startled voice interrupted his thoughts.

Dan’s eyes widened as he shot his eyes up at Phil. Looking up at his shocked expression, Dan slowly started to realize what he accidentally said out loud.

“N-Nothing,” Dan stammered out.

The music room filled with painfully awkward silence, until the teacher clapped her hands together just as the bell rung. “Class dismissed!”

All of the students shuffled out of their seats, some shoving their instrument cases in the locker rooms before pouring out of the classroom. Even Ms. Culdwin was quick to march into her office and shut the door without any other word to a student, being her usual royally pissed off self.

The only two people left in the classroom were Dan and Phil.

Dan insisted on not looking at or talking to Phil, his cheeks painted bright red as he quickly gathered his sheet music and stuffed them in his messenger bag. Meanwhile, Phil had awkwardly packed up his violin, now fiddling with his own sheet music.

“Is that why you didn’t want to talk to me today? Because you like me?” Phil asked tentatively.

Silence.

“Perhaps,” Dan mumbled.

Phil frowned. “I’m sorry I don’t return the feelings.”

Dan squeezed his eyes shut, still turned towards the piano and away from Phil. He exhaled crisply and turned on his heels to face his crush.

“That’s fine,” Dan shrugged. “I didn’t expect you to. We just met a few days ago after all.”

Phil looked at Dan, an apology written entirely on his face. “I’m really really sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Dan mumbled. He turned away from Phil. “You’re in love with someone else.”

Phil smiled guiltily. “I am.”

“PJ, right?”

“Yeah.”

Dan forced out a smile. “He’s a really lucky guy.”

“I love him a lot,” Phil replied earnestly. “He’s my best friend and my soulmate.”

“Phil, I like you, but I  _really_  don’t want to hear more,” Dan said, feeling his fingers clench the music in his hands even tighter.

“Right, I’m sorry,” Phil mumbled.

“Apology accepted,” Dan replied. He finally turned his head to look at Phil, who looked like he wanted to say something in a million different ways.

Eventually, Phil just shook his head. “I’ll just go.” He shouldered his violin case and walked out of the classroom.

Dan followed suit, walking out of the music room. He stood there in the middle of the hallway, watching the bright blue violin case strapped on Phil’s back disappear into the crowd of students.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this fic! If you want to interact with me or for more phan stuff, my tumblr blog is flyingstarshowell !! :)


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